Fury at Vinnie Jones over 125 dead foxes posted on Twitter
VINNIE Jones faced a barrage of criticism from animal lovers after a photograph of around 125 dead foxes was posted on his Twitter account.
The image reportedly appeared on the former footballer’s social media account with the caption: ‘A real night lamping. Anyone beat this?’
Animal charities reacted in horror to the ‘massacre’ and told the star to ‘drop the idiot-thug act’.
But Jones, 52, yesterday denied posting the picture and insisted he had been targeted after speaking publicly of his love of country pursuits.
Speaking from his home in California, he said: ‘It is absolutely nothing to do with me whatsoever.
‘I’d never seen the picture until this morning when I’d seen people going mad on Twitter saying I had done this and that. I was shaking, I’d never seen the picture, and I’d never seen that many foxes.
‘That is an attack on me. I don’t know how it has got on there.’
It is not known who killed the animals or where the photograph was taken.
Foxes are not a protected species so it is
‘This is killing wildlife for fun’
legal to shoot them with a rifle or shotgun on private land in England. Shooters often go ‘ lamping’ at night, using highpowered lights on pick-up trucks.
The post came after Jones, who lives in Los Angeles with his wife Tanya but also has a cottage in Sussex, told the Shooting Times this month: ‘If the farmer has a fox problem I love going out and dealing with it for him.’
Jones’ father was a gamekeeper and says he was five when he first shot a pigeon. After a 15-year career as a footballer, Jones enjoyed success as an actor following his role in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Friend Dave Whitby, head gamekeeper at the Petworth Park estate in West Sussex, said the photograph, which showed an estimated 125 foxes, had been shared among gun enthusiasts.
‘No one knows where the photograph came from,’ he said. ‘It was posted to me and I sent it to Vinnie saying “Where the hell have these come from?”
‘We think it is abroad somewhere, Spain or Germany. I don’t know the story behind it, but I would think it would be impossible to shoot that many in a month let alone a day.’
The post was deleted from Jones’ Twitter account shortly after it appeared on Sunday evening but he was heavily criticised.
Philippa King, of the League Against Cruel Sports, said: ‘This is nothing less than a massacre.
‘The extermination of such a large number of foxes cannot be interpreted as simply dealing with a rogue fox problem or wildlife management. The joy expressed here highlights the true nature of this activity, which is killing wildlife for fun and has nothing to do with fox control.’
Elisa Allen, the director of Peta UK, said: ‘If people hunted down panicked dogs for fun, we would call it what it is: cruelty to animals. Vinnie needs to drop the idiot- thug act and put his strength into protecting – not destroying – those who cannot protect themselves from bullies.’
Animal Aid campaigner Tod Bradbury added: ‘Treating animals as if they are nothing more than living targets is callous. Each of those foxes would have cherished his or her life – and many of those will have left behind cubs who will now have to fend for themselves.’
A spokesman for the RSPCA said: ‘Depending on the circumstances, sadly such actions are legal, but we would always advocate alternative measures – such as deterrents – be used to prevent this kind of killing of wildlife.’
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation, the UK’s largest shooting organisation, said it is was unlikely the fox hunt photo was taken in Britain. A spokesman said: ‘It would take a vast amount of land to sustain such a population of foxes.’
In 2003 it was reported that Jones had his shotgun licence revoked by police after he was convicted of threatening passengers on a plane. He reportedly threatened to ‘eat the face’ of one passenger, and screamed: ‘I can get you murdered, I can get the whole crew murdered for £3,000.’